Method and apparatus for low-pressure carbonation and bottling



65 P. W. SHIELDS ET AL I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOW PRESSURE CARBONATION AND BOTTLING Filed Sept 29. 1922 INVENTORS" Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,648,465 PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK W. SHIELDS, OF PITTSBURGH, AND LOUIS DE MARKUS, F MONTROSE, PENN- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TO MOKENNA BRASS AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC., OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FORLOW-PRESSURE CARBONATION 'AND BOTTLING.

Application filed September 29, 1922. Serial No. 591,289.

The present invention relates broadly to bottling soft drinks which require acomparatively low carbonation, and to a method of effecting the desired carbonation.

In the soft drink industry it is common practice to carbonate or charge'ordinary water with from 2 to 8 times its own volume of carbon dioxide, the degree of carbonation depending upon the product desired.

10 In ordinary carbonators there is usually provided an excess of carbon dioxide to insure carbonation up to the saturation point of the water at carbonator temperature and pressure. As with certain drinks, such for example as imitation grape drinks, it is desirable to provide only sufficient carbon dioxide to impart the desired palatable characteristics to the drink. it will be apparent that a carbonator which effects carbonation up to substantially the saturation point would not be suitable for directly supplying its water to a bottling machine bottling drinks of this character. o

By the present invention there is provided improved means for supplying carbonated water of the proper characteristics to hottling machines, it being understood that the term bottling as used herein is definitive both of bottle filling and bottle filling and capping machines.

Inthe accompanying drawings, there are shown for purposes of illustration only certain'embodiments of the present invention, these drawings being largely diagrammatic and representing apparatus which may be of any desired construction and in which changesmay be made in the construction .and operation without departing from the spirit or scope'of ourbroader claims.

In the drawings,- Figure 1 is a chart in rectangular coordinate-s showing the relation between temperature, pressure, and saturation point of carbon dioxide in water;

Figure 2' is a diagrammatic viewillustrating one embodiment of this invention; and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view, corresponding to Figure 2, illustrating a slightly modified embodiment of the invention.

requiring p the advisability of supplying such water Experience in the use of bottling machines carbonated water has demonstrated at comparatively definite pressures. While these pressuresobviously vary with different machines,in accordance with the particular design of the machine, each machine is best adapted to operate only over a comparatively definite pressure range. By the present invention it is possible not only to effect the'desired degree of carbonation of the water, but to supply the carbonated water at a pressure required by the bottling ma chine.

Referring first to the chart of Figure 1, the horizontally extending dotted line represents the pressure at which the bottling machine, not shown in the drawings, is best adapted to operate. It will be apparent that a carbonator for supplying such bottling machine may either carbonate at the pressure of the bottling machine, or at any other desired pressure. This will be more fully pointed out hereinafter. In this fig ure.,the lowest and highest temperatures at which tap water is found during the year, are represented respectively by the reference characters t and 2?. months. the water temperature will approach tas a limit, while during the hotter months it willrapproach, t An average temperaturecondition of the tap water may be arbitrarily represented by t. The intersection of a line drawn from t with the dotted line representing the bottling machine pressure, will show that under these conditions the saturation point of the water is'at about t During the cold volumes. It has already been pointed out i that axcarbonator which is commercially efficent will produce asubstantially saturated solution at its operating temperature and pressure. be determined under ordinary conditions by the temperature of the tap water, while the pressure may be determined in any desired manner.

As this degree of carbonation, namely sub-.

an under-saturation, It is extremely dit-- ficult, if not impossible, to effect uniform carbonation at under-saturation in ordinary cnrhonators with known apparatus: This'is The temperature will obviously due to the di-fiiculty in maintainingthe dc sired proportions of water and carbon dioxide. By the present invention the carbonator is preferably operated at a pressure which is below bottling machine pressure, whereby substantial saturation is effected at this pressure, and then the substantially saturated water is treated to make it capable of absorbing additional carbon dioxide. This may be accomplished by increasing the pressure on the substantially saturated solution whereby an un'der-sattu'ated solution, at the increased pressure, is provided.

The present application constitutes a continuation in part of our co-pending applioationSerialNo'. 591,288,1iled September 29, 1922;

Referring more particularly to Figure 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated diagrammatically a carbonator which is adapted to carbonate substantially to saturation at the carbonator temperature and pressure. This" carbonator may be provided with a suitable connection 3for supplying the carhon dioxide gas thereto, and with another connection 4: forsupplying the water to be carbonated. The carbonated water, leaving the carbonator at substantially the saturation point, passes'through a connection 5 to the inletof a suitable booster pump 6, which may be operated in any desired manner" and may be of any well known construction, for increasing the pressure on the water. The outlet 7 of the pump communicates through a suitable connection 8 with a storage reservoir 9=wh1ch 1n turn has an outlet connection 10 leading tothebottlingmachine (not shown).

As the pressure on the water is raised by the boosterpump 6, it will be apparent that the physical characteristics of the water are so changedas to renderit capable of absorb-- This results ing additional carbon dioxide. in the productlon of an under-saturated solutron Within the storage reservoir 9'. The

pump is preferably operated in such manner as to increase the pressure on the water to a point corresponding substantially to bottlingmachine pressure, whereby the water in under-saturated condition. may be ex peditiously fedxfrom the storage reservoir directly to the bottling machine without interpositioning of any regulating valves.

with the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 2, by providing between the connections 5 and-8 a bypass connection 11. This bypass is normally closed by a valve 12 operated by a diaphragm 13. The diaphragm 13 is normally urged in a direction to close the valve by pressure suppliedthereto in any desired manner, as by a tank 14. The pressurefin the tank 14 may be varied to correspond to the desired bottlin machine pressure and thereby maintain the bypass closedso long asthe pressure at the outlet of thepump is less than or equal to the desired bottling pressure. If the pressure at the outlet of the: pump exceeds the desired pressure, the watcrwill be effective for moving the diaphragm 13 inthe opposite. direction to thereby open the valve 12. Thiswill permit the water to continuously fiow= in a closed: cycle from the outlet or the pump to the inlet, whereby'no change in pressure within the storage reservoir 9 will be. effected.

In Figure 3 of the drawings there is illus-' trated a slightly modified embodimentof the invention, in which parts corresponding to the partsalready described are indicatedxby the same reference characters having. a prime afliXed thereto. In this formof the invention,the bypass is soarranged that when the bottling machine pressure isreachedtheload on the pump is decreased. This. is accoinplished by locating the. bypass around the; inlet side onlyof the pump, making it unnecessary for the water within the pump cylinder to pass through the outlet valveinto a region of higher pressure. For maintaining the valve 12 properly balanced there; may be provided abalancing connection 15, as will be well understood; u As the carbonator produces substantially uniform carbonation, and'as the pressure at the outlet ofthe booster pump maybe ac curately controlled inthe automatic manner referred to, it will be apparent that a. uniformity of product is insured, as with a definite carbonation and unifonnpressure n and temperature-such results must follow.w The, present apparatus also lends itself admirably to the bottling of still goods requrring no carbonation. Thisiresultgmay be easily accomplished. by cutting off the, supn5 ply of carbon dioxide gas throughthe connection 3 andonly supplying to thecarbonator sweet water througlrthe connection The pressure in the tank 14 having been set to maintain the desired bottling machine pressure, it will be apparent that the operation of thebooster pump 6 will be effective for withdrawing the sweet Water from the carbonator at the pressure of the carbonator, irrespective of what this pressure may be, and raising the same tothe bottling machine pressure as determined by the tanlr '14. As the. carbonator at such times istno't relied upon, it will be obvious that the sweet Water may be directly supplied to the booster pump from any other desired source, as for example the connection 16.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of a carbonating apparatus and a method of carbonating for use in connection with bottling machines by means of which water having a uniform low carbonation may be produced.

WVe claim:

1. In the method. of bottling, the steps consisting in carbonating water to substantially the saturation point, then raising the pressure on the Water to render itcapable of absorbing additional carbon dioxide gas, and thereafter maintaining it out of contact with additional carbon dioxide gas, substantially as described.

2. In the method of bottling, the steps consisting in carbonating water to substantially the saturation point at a pressure be low the bottling machine pressure, then raising the pressure on the water to render it capable of absorbing additional carbon dio"- ide, and maintaining the water in such under-saturated condition until used, substantially as described.

3. In the method of bottling, the steps consisting in carbonating water to substantially the saturation point, then treating the water prior to bottling to change its pressure conditions and thereby its physical characteristics with respect to carbon dioxide absorption whereby it is under saturated at such pressure conditions, and then maintaining the water in such under-saturated condition until bottled, substantially as described.

4. In the method of bottling, the steps consisting in carbonating Water to substantially the saturation point, passing said water to a bottling machine, increasingthe pressure on the water during its passage to the bottling machine, and thereafter maintaining it out of contact with additional carbon dioxide gas, substantially as described.

5. In the method of bottling, the steps consisting in carbonating water to substantially the saturation point, passing said Water to a bottling machine, uniformly increasing the pressure on the Water during its passage to the bottling machine, and thereafter maintaining the water in such under-saturated condition, until used, substantially as described.

6. In a carbonating apparatus, a storage reservoir, a carbonator for carbonating water to substantially the saturation point,

a connection between the carbonator and the storage reservoir, means in saidconnection for raising the pressure of the Water during its passage from the carbonator to the reservoir to produce in the reservoir an 1 under-saturated solution, and connections arranged to deliver said under-saturated water as such to a bottling machine, substantially as described.

7. In a carbonating apparatus, a carbonator, pressure boosting means cooperating therewith, means governing the pressure established by said pressure boosting means, a connection between the carbonator and the pressure boosting means whereby carbonated water may be supplied to said boosting means. a source of sweet water, and means for supplying the same to said pressure boosting means, substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands. PATRICK W. SHIELDS.

LOUIS DE MARKUS. 

